Tarzana Veterinary Hospital

I am beyond disappointed in this place. The staff is aggressive and I have never had a vet experience like this before. I wanted to see Dr. Hoffman. I thought she seemed very sympathetic and kind; I had brought a friend's dog here to her before. I can't rate her; so best of luck to you if you cannot get in to see her - I couldn't see Dr. Hoffman, even though I had requested her twice on two separate occasions. I went anyway to meet with one of her ""associates"" - This vet was unintelligible, I didn't like his ""bedside"" manner, he badmouthed another vet that I had intended to send blood work to for a specialized thyroid test -- and I should say he went on and on and on and on for about 4 minutes boring me to tears with a story about a lecture he had received from her -- all the while telling me she was half brilliant, half-psycho -- while my poor dog was pinned to the table, waiting. I am there to get my dog well, not placate this man and his stories. ""Well, let's get her weight; okay she's 50 pounds."" What? She lost 5 pounds in 10 days? I am worried; that's a lot of weight for a dog. ""Well, our scales may be off 5 pounds."" Well can you find out? Because if my dog has lost 5 pounds in 10 days, that's pretty bad."" ""Uh, we don't know."" As it is, I don't know what's wrong with her. She has excessive thirst, is lethargic and is doing not so great and this could be serious. My dog also red and inflamed ears, so tender that she wouldn't let me near them. They had two men muscle her down on the metal table - which her claws were digging into - and they could not restrain her. So they muzzled her. And yet they were pinning her down with all their might. I had to leave the room, my dog was in pain and I thought she was going to have a heart attack from the BRUTE FORCE with which they were holding her down. That is so unprofessional. She's a 55 pound, thin 8 year old dog. Long story short, he could not look in her ears. WHAT? What vet can't look in a dog's ears? Really? Now what do I do? If you can't, who can? Still, the main reason I went was to uncover what was causing her excessive thirst, urination and lethargy. Bottom line, I got NO answers. I called to complain that I really, really didn't like this doctor and they sort of sympathized with me over the phone and asked if I could, would I like to see Dr. Hoffman the next day? So I withheld water from my dog all night and kept her in (not an easy feat for a dog who is drinking gallons of water -- and it's a heatwave of 100 -- in her condition) and got the urine sample first thing for a urine culture. Another feat, not so easy when you have to catch the first concentrated urine of the morning. I was met in the parking lot defensively with ""You'll basically have to deal with the doctor you don't like and he will have to be your vet here"" when I was just there to drop off a sample. I had no intention of dealing with that doctor again. Unacceptable. So I drove off. Who treats people like that? I still have a sick dog. I had a vet tell me NOTHING. I paid for what? He could not give me any kind of answers or EVEN LOOK INSIDE MY DOGS EARS. DON'T GO TO THIS CLINIC. more

Dr Hoffman has looked after both my dogs and my cat. She is a wonderful vet. I have seen every other vet in the valley and this is the practice that I will now always come back to. more

Very unfortunate situation because I love both Drs. and think they were wonderful however some of the senior staff members were way too rude and aggressive with me and my beloved pets. I even tried to bring this to the Drs. attention but she unfortunately was not phased that I was so mistreated by her staff. I wont get into details of the staffs abuse but in all my life I have NEVER been so belittled and mistreated by a Doctors office. more

Not only do I adore Dr. Graesmehr and implicitly trust her judgement and skill, (I haven't gone to Dr. Hoffman, but many of my clients do and they love her as well), but the front desk staff are always willing and ready to go the extra mile. I own a pet care business and they know I have pet emergencies that crop up from time to time -- a sick dog, a cut paw pad, torn claw-- no matter what, they bend over backwards to fit me in so that MY clients can rest easy. I was referred to them by 2 clients and one of my dogwalkers, and I'm 100% satisfied by their care and expertise and I'm very critical when it comes to animal care. \r Janet S. (Pooch Buddies) more

The best clinic south of San Luis Obispo. Dr. Hoffman and Dr. Grasmer have treated all 5 of my Dalmatians from puppy hood to heaven with respect kindness and compassion. My Ernie loves to visit the vet and the staff are always delighted to see him I am very thankful to Tarzana Pet Clinic for all the their wonderful assistance and kindness during the good times and bad. more

It is my privilege to have Dr. Gail Grasmer as family vet\r to my pets. She is kind and caring to the max. Her smile always help when I am worried about my boy "zipper". The staff has always been helpful and courteous. Thank TZ Pet. Robert Littman more

Dr Hoffman has been my Cats Doctor since 1985, Back when the office was on Ventura blvd in Sherman Oaks. She has always been good to all my 6 cats and helped me thru the tough times as well as the daily maintenance. Dr Hoffman Is Great. more

I have taken 8 pets there over the past 2 years, and have found nothing but the best pet care available. The front desk staff may appear "short" but I think they are over extended and very busy. They definitely care about your animals and try to appease even when the doctor is running behind and you have to wait. I recently moved to hollywood and took my animals to another vet. Big Mistake! I plan on making the long trip (45 minutes) for their next check-up. I would recommend to anyone looking for a small town vet with unending knowledge. more

I have been going to Tarzana Pet Clinic since 1983, before Dr. Hoffman took over. She and Dr. Grasmehr are both caring, competent vets. They have seen me through the care of many animals (of the canine and feline varieties), from the time I adopted them until their deaths. The front desk staff has sometimes not been the best, but having been to other vets in the interim (I've temporarily lived a few places other than the valley where I had to take my pets to the vet, plus I've had to see specialists) I think this is a problem with all vets - it's hard to find good people for the front. One of the things I love is that some of their back office staff have been there as long as I've been going there. I think that says something about their practice and it makes me feel good to know my pets are in familiar hands. Dr. Hoffman in particular has been very good about helping me through the decision process when it was time to have pets put to sleep. I always made my own decisions, but she alw more

Dr. Grasmehr has been our vet since we moved to Tarzana in 1994. She and the staff have been kind and compassionate with both our family and our pets. She is cognizant of the cost of an elderly pet and realistic about presenting outcomes and options. As our son has grown up with our pets, she encouraged his attendance at appointments and answered all his questions and concerns. Dr. Grasmehr is such an inspiration to him, he wants to become a vet. When our 19 year old cat died and we brought her body in, the staff treated us with respect and dignity. more

I have been with Tarzana Pet Clinic for several years, Dr. Grashmer is was my vet, she is a pretty good vet but their business manager is a total jerk and some of the staff are very rude and aggressive. I do not recommend them to anyone. Their business manager is not an animal lover and he didnot care about animals. So I am trying to file a complaint against him. I am not going back there, they became awful. more

Contrary to what one of the respondents indicated, we believe that the staff at Tarzana Pet Clinic are entirely professional, courteous and extremely efficient. They are always helpful and compassionate. Doctors Hoffman and Grassmehr are extraordinary veterinarians, who have seen our beloved dog through some very serious health issues. They have always taken remarkable care of her and we are indebted to them for their ongoing kindness, as well as for the excellent veterinary medical treatment they administer. more

I can honestly say that I believe Dr. Grashmehr is a good vet, however her office staff are rude and insensitive. Maybe this is why her office appears empty at the times she treated my Scottie Terrier. I found her ofice staff phoney ad unconcerned about my pets wellbeing. I brought my second Scottie to her for an appointment on her day off. I had a scheduled appointment and took time off work. After waiting over forty minutes I asked the office manager, "Robyn" to find out how much longer I would have to wait. All I was told was that the Dr. was running behind. I finally had to leave. I called the office to rescedule that day but was denied an appointment. I was informed that maybe I was not a good fir for Dr. Grashmehr by the office manager. Do these people forget that I am the customer and I did have an appointment. Maybe this is why she does not have a busy proctice. more

We've been taking our dog to this clinic since 1998 and have never had anything but the best, most attentive, most caring service from Dr. Grasmehr. The office staff and vets' assistants are helpful, caring, and accommodating in the extreme. We could not ask for better care for our baby or nicer people to deal with. Highly recommended! more

I started taking my dog to Dr. Grasmehr at Tarzana Pet Clinic after a horrible experience with another vet. Dr. Grasmehr was recommended by the oncologist treating my dog's cancer. From the first moment I met Dr. Grasmehr and the staff at the clinic, I knew I was in good hands. My dog was very neurotic and definitely needed a lot of patience and care and she received it there. They were endlessly patient and caring with her and did their best to put her at ease. Unfortunately my dog had other health issues which meant frequent trips to the vet. The front desk staff was always very curteous and understanding and attentive to our needs. Dr. Grasmehr was fabulous about calling with test results and keeping me informed. She was also very conscious of the costs and I always felt like she was treating what was needed and not being excessive to line her pockets. When we finally reached the point where we had to put our beloved pet to sleep, we could not have asked for a gentler, more more

Our experiences with the doctors in this clinic have made us feel secure in knowing that our dog is receiving the most up to date and qualified treatment possible. Bugsy has had different problems which required immediate attention. From the moment someone answers the phone to the completion of treatment, we know that we are in a loving, caring and state of the art clinic. In addition, following a medical problem, the doctors are always following up after the visit to make sure the treatment is working properly. Like others, our pets are part of our family. Knowing our family is well taken care of is very important. more

There must have been a recent change in the front office staff. They are very rude over the phone and I have moved and see no point in taking my dogs to Tarzana if the staff is going to be unhelpful and rude over the telephone. Dr. Grashmehr was great with my senior dog up until the very end. The phone staff is less than helpful, we adopted a new dog (rescue) and I contacted the office because, it had attacked and hospitalized my husband, well I got "look up petfinder.com" of course, that was worthless. I called today to find out if they could recommend any pet sitters for my family dog (not the one who attacked my husband and daughter - he is living with a pet trainer). I was told that they could not recommend anyone. The Vets are great if you can get past the staff on the telephone! My patience is running low. more

We switched from Beverly Oaks Hospital (who were bad) to this vet. Tarzana Pet Clinic (Dr. Hoffman) is a fantastic Veterinarian. They got us a diagnosis when the other vet could not, their prices were consistently lower than the other vet, their staff was consistently MUCH better, and their vets were more compassionate and communicated better. Tarzana Pet Clinic even went out of their way to save us money by talking a specialist into doing a less extensive examination which lowered the price to accomodate our financial situation. Great vets, great staff, highly reccommended! PROS: Staff, Veterinarians, Prices CONS: None more

I am the luckiest pet owner in the world to have found such a great place to take such wonderful care of my babies! These people are great - from the front desk staff (who actually acknowledge you when you walk in the door!) to the doctors and assistants - they are considerate, patient, gentle with my dogs and cats, on top of their game and good at what they do. Also, unlike other vets in the Valley, they don't create an unnecessary urgent need for your pets, so as to pilfer your pocket book. Finally, this clinic is not as expensive as some of the other clinics in the Valley. \r All I can say is OUTSTANDING! PROS: Inexpensive, attentive and caring staff CONS: more

This is the best Veterinarian group I have been to in 15 years! Either Vet there is just as good. The office is very compassionate, caring and accomodating. I never felt like I was being over-charged. My dog had a long term chronic illness and they extended her life. PROS: Wonderful caring staff, professional, competent care CONS: more